Top Catholic Songs

This article contains information about:

• Catholic song planning and liturgical texts
• Catholic hymnals and song collections
• Independent Catholic songwriter resources and collaboration/support groups
• PROs: performing rights organizations
• Catholic liturgical music publishers, licensing and resources

Catholic song planning and liturgical texts

A Parish Inheritance: A Hymnological Study of St. Mary’s Parish

By Don Howe

“What happened to the hymns we once sang?” This study reflects on how a deeply Catholic, Eucharistic, and Marian repertoire once shaped parish life—and how that musical memory can quietly fade—and offers a doctrinal, pastoral, and practical framework to help pastors, musicians, and parish leaders think more carefully about the Church’s sacred music. https://www.topcatholicsongs.com/parish-inheritance-a-hymnological-study-of-st-marys-parish

I recently updated the A Parish Inheritance project by creating a centralized resource page containing all of the supporting documents, templates, examples, and AI workflow instructions used in the hymn analysis framework.

Resources include:
What Is a Catholic Hymn?
A Pastoral Look at the Hymns We Sing: Past and Present
Appendix D: Hymn Analysis Template
Appendix E: Sample Hymn Analyses
AI Analysis Guide for Liturgical Hymnody

Those interested can find the resources here:
AI Tools for A Parish Inheritance

I welcome feedback from members and hope these materials contribute to ongoing discussions about Catholic hymnody, sacred music, and parish formation.

Catholic Funeral Hymns

Lyrics, videos and a lot of useful information presented in a very user-friendly way. Discover more: Catholic funeral hymns (with user-friendly lyrics)

Good For The Soul Music

Liturgical Press

The Liturgical Press operates under the guidance of St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota. The Celebrating the Eucharist Music Planner is available for you to download for free as an Adobe PDF file. The Music Planner is updated quarterly. It also includes suggested music for both Sacred Song 2011 and Sacred Song 2016 as well as for our classic hymn resource book, The Collegeville Hymnal. litpress.org/Missals-For-Mass/music-planner

Liturgical Press Psalter Index by Psalm Number

Liturgical Song

LiturgicalSong.com works with authors, composers, Church organisations and other publishers to provide Christian liturgy and music resources to pastors, musicians, singers and teachers in parishes, schools and other religious communities throughout Australia and New Zealand. liturgicalsong.com/suggestions

GIA Music

GIA hymnals comparative listing of songs: topcatholicsongs.com/gia-hymnals-comparative-listing-2021

GIA Hymnal collection: giamusic.com/sacred-music-hymnals

You can purchase sheet music, piano books, and guitar books from GIA Music. I purchased my own Gather guitar books (a 3-volume set) in order to practice songs at home and they have really helped me become a better cantor and guitarist. It is worth the investment of $70 to $120 to have your own books. If you are lucky, your church will purchase an extra set for you to take home to practice.

Revised Grail Psalms (Conception Abbey/The Grail): 
giamusic.com/resource/the-revised-grail-psalms-singing-version-book-g7984

Lectionary Psalms - Michel Guimont:
giamusic.com/resource/lectionary-psalms-michel-guimont-print-g8150

GIAPlanner Plus. Sunday-by-Sunday music suggestions from the most popular and highly respected GIA hymnals representing a wide range of publishers. Need help teaching your cantors the psalm of the week? Want to familiarize your choir with a new anthem? How about encouraging practice outside of rehearsals? Note pricing options below. Only the Gold plan allows you to listen to audio samples. 

Bronze: free • Silver: $39/yr • Gold: $129/yr

Quarterly Planning Pages – free

Choral music weekly suggestions – free

GIA Quarterly - planning magazine – see site for cost

ECS Publishing Group

ECS Publishing Group is the corporate parent of music publishers E. C. Schirmer, Galaxy, and MorningStar. Weekly music suggestions for the Catholic lectionary – notably hymns for unison and multi-part chorus – are here: morningstarmusic.com/catholic-lectionary.html

Liturgy Help

Liturgyhelp.com – For over 20 years, LiturgyHelp has been helping priests, teachers, catechists, musicians, and everyone involved in Catholic ministry to quickly and creatively prepare for liturgy and prayer. LiturgyHelp is a subscription website that gives you access to the official Lectionary and Missal which are fully integrated with national Liturgical Calendars and a wealth of other liturgical resources. We provide easy online access for parishes, schools and other Catholic communities to the wealth of the Church’s liturgical texts; making it faster and easier to prepare materials for liturgy and prayer.

Liturgy Resources

Responsorial psalms and Mass settings. Liturgy Resources is a platform created for and by musicians in the Catholic Church. We are a community of music directors, worship leaders, composers, and recording artists from around the world. www.liturgyresources.com

OCP

Planning tools, tips and resources for your music ministry and liturgy preparation: www.ocp.org/en-us/liturgy-planning

OCP Hymnals - Choose from the wide variety of OCP hymnals to lift the voices of your assembly in song! See site for costs.

Support materials for your missal program
Accompaniment books, resources for music and prayer, quarterly planning tools and more. See site for costs.

Today's Liturgy - planning magazine (paper and electronic). See site for costs.

Liturgy.com - comprehensive liturgical planning site. Basic (free), Plus and Premium plans. liturgy.ocp.org

Free liturgy planning resources: www.ocp.org/en-us/free-planning-tools

WorshipNOW

Timeless Liturgy. Modern Worship Music. WORSHIPNOW's FREE Liturgical Music Planner is designed to assist you in selecting music to create rich, worshipful and balanced liturgies that make the scriptures come to life while engaging the faithful into full and active participation at Mass. Emphasis is on contemporary liturgical music selections. worshipnowpublishing.com/pages/liturgical-music-planner

LiturgyTools.net

Weekly music suggestions: liturgytools.net. List of music resources for church services: liturgytools.net/2011/03/finding-music-suggestions-for-church.html

ONE LICENSE

Search for song titles: onelicense.net/search

Pricing options and information:

https://www.onelicense.net/options-and-prices
https://www.onelicense.net/how-it-works#practice

Practice-Track License

• Copy demonstration recordings provided by a Member Publisher,
• Copy commercial CDs or MP3s purchased from a Member Publisher or record company,
• Record your own versions of covered songs for your ensemble (that difficult tenor part, for example, or an accompaniment track), 
• Burn CDs and email MP3s. 
• Store recordings on a secure intranet.

For a complete list of Member Publishers who participate, click here.

• Once tracks are recorded, our convenient technology allows you to easily report your usage.
• Users will purchase Practice-Track Licenses based on their average weekly attendance.

Note: The Practice-Track License is for practice and rehearsal purposes only and is not intended to cover recordings for use within a live worship service.

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)

Daily Readings in English from Lectionary for Mass: https://bible.usccb.org/readings/calendar

Daily Readings in Spanish from Lectionary for Mass: https://bible.usccb.org/es/readings/calendar

USCCB Permissions: usccb.org/bible/permissions

Hymnary.org

www.hymnary.org - A comprehensive index of hymns and hymnals. Includes texts, tunes, composers, composer biographies and credits. See site for prices.

GodSongs.net

godsongs.net/p/hymn-and-song-listing.html – A very large listing of Christian hymns and songs with lyrics and links to public domain sheet music and YouTube videos. 

CanticaNOVA

Liturgical planning guide with traditional hymn suggestions. www.canticanova.com/pln_main.htm

Please feel free to suggest additional resources by sending a note to info@topcatholicsongs.com.

Catholic hymnals and song collections

If there is no link given or if a link has been changed by the publisher, please use your Internet search engine to find the hymnal. I invite site visitors to help me keep this list of music resources up to date. Contact Richard with additions or changes. Thank you!

Here is an article to help with hymnal selection: Catholic Hymnody, Authority, and Modern Hymnals

A Catholic Book of Hymns and Chants – Sacred Music Library
African American Heritage Hymnal – GIA Music
As One Voice – Willow Publishing
Breaking Bread – OCP
Catholic Community Hymnal – GIA Music
Choose Christ – OCP
Collegeville Hymnal, The – Liturgical Press
Cross Generation – GIA Music
Flor y Canto Tercera Edición – OCP
Gather Hymnals – all editions – GIA Music
Glory & Praise, Third Edition – OCP
Heritage Missal – OCP
Hymns for the Gospels – GIA Music
Saint John de Brébeuf Hymnal – Corpus Christi Watershed
Journeysongs, Third Edition – OCP
Lead Me, Guide Me, Second Edition – GIA Music
Misal del Día – OCP
Music for Catholic Worship (Canada) – CCCB Publications (availability unknown)
Music Issue
One in Faith Hymnal – WLP
Oramos Cantando/We Pray In Song – GIA Music
Respond & Acclaim – OCP
Ritual Song, Second Edition – GIA Music
Sacred Song hymnal – Liturgical Press
St. Michael Hymnal
Singing Our Faith – GIA Music
Spirit & Song Hymnal – OCP
Spirit & Song All-Inclusive Digital Edition – OCP
Today's Missal – OCP
Unidos en Cristo/United in Christ seasonal missal and worship resource – OCP
V Encuentro: Discípulos Misioneros y Iglesia en Misión – OCP
We Celebrate Hymnal – WLP/J.S. Paluch
Word & Song – WLP
Worship & Rejoice – Hope Publishing
Worship 4th Edition – GIA Music
WorshipNOW Hymnal – WorshipNOW Publishing

Comparison of 15 Traditional Catholic Hymnals by Daniel Craig

topcatholicsongs.com/15-traditional-catholic-hymnals-comparison-daniel-craig
 

Independent Catholic songwriter resources and collaboration/support groups

Musica Sacra: Church Music Association of America and Musica Sacra Forum – The Church Music Association of America (founded in 1874) is an association of Catholic musicians and others who have a special interest in music and liturgy, active in advancing Gregorian chant, Renaissance polyphony, and other forms of sacred music, including new composition, for liturgical use. The CMAA’s purpose is the advancement of musica sacra in keeping with the norms established by competent ecclesiastical authority.
 

PROs: performing rights organizations

• ASCAP – A membership association of more than 470,000 US composers, songwriters, lyricists and music publishers of every kind of music.
• BMI – BMI is the bridge between songwriters and the businesses and organizations that want to play their music publicly.
• SESAC – SESAC is an invitation-only Performing Rights Organization that represents the world's top songwriters, composers and music publishers.

Catholic liturgical music publishers, licensing and resources

American Catholic Press – American Catholic Press (ACP) is a publisher of hymnals, missals, books, and other materials for the liturgy, both in celebration and education.

CanticaNOVA Publications (CNP) Publishers of traditional liturgical music (choral, cantor, organ, instrumental), providing free liturgy planning assistance and articles online.

GIA – GIA Publications is a major publisher of sacred choral music, hymnals, sacred music recordings, music education materials, and other related products.

Ignatius Press – Ignatius Press publishers and distributors of Catholic books, magazines, videos and music; primary publisher in U.S. of Pope Benedict XVI's books.

Liturgical Press – "Resources for a Worshiping World." Liturgical Press was founded by Saint John's Abbey (Collegeville, MN) in 1926.

Liturgical Song – LiturgicalSong.com works with authors, composers, Church organisations and other publishers to provide Christian liturgy and music resources to pastors, musicians, singers and teachers in parishes, schools and other religious communities throughout Australia and New Zealand. Publisher of the complete catalogue of compositions by Paul Mason, including collaborations with other composers. Actively seeking to expand their stable of composers of Christian ritual music. In October 2019 released "Psalms for the Church's Year" and "Masses for the Church's Year" by renowned Melbourne composer Roger Heagney, and "Simply Singable Psalms" by Newcastle composer Anne Millard. Also released in 2019 a compilation of hymns and spiritual songs by various composers including Fr Carmelo Sciberras, Mana Nankivell and Marie-Louise Nankivell of Adelaide.

work with authors, composers, Church organisations and other publishers to provide Christian liturgy and music resources to pastors, musicians, singers and teachers in parishes, schools and other religious communities throughout Australia and New Zealand.

OCP (Oregon Catholic Press) – Much more than a missal publisher, OCP offers an impressive range of products and services — more than 650 — from music for worship to CDs for listening, from inspirational books to online tools, from hymnals to magazines.

Sacred Music Library – We believe every church musician—regardless of skill level—deserves the tools to serve confidently and faithfully. That’s why we offer a rich library of free, sacred music, including traditional hymns, Gregorian Chant, and timeless choral anthems.

St. James Music Press – Since 1992 St. James Music Press has been publishing some of the finest church anthems being written today. Anthems from SJMP have been heard on national broadcasts, performed at cathedrals and churches throughout the world, and premiered at major music conferences throughout the country. Our catalog does not contain praise-songs, choruses or renewal music. It is, however, filled with new traditional anthems, beautiful classics, and fresh arrangements of varying difficulty which have been tried and tested by many fine church choirs. www.sjmp.com

WLP – World Library Publications – World Library Publications was formerly a division of J.S. Paluch Company, Inc., providing Catholic music, liturgy and worship resources, Mass Settings, Mass Music and more. World Library Publications (WLP) became a division of GIA Publications, Inc., on January 2, 2020. Omer Westendorf founded World Library Publications in 1950 in Cincinnati, Ohio, as World Library of Sacred Music. In 1971, the J.S. Paluch Company acquired WLP. 

ONE LICENSE – Obtain copyright permission to reprint, podcast, and record hymns and songs for your congregation. Search for and download music image files (lyrics only) to use for your worship aid, bulletin or projection.

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) – Daily Readings in English from Lectionary for Mass, Daily Readings in Spanish from Lectionary for Mass, USCCB Permissions.

Please feel free to suggest additional resources by sending a note to info@topcatholicsongs.com.